ABOUT THE ARTIST

“I don’t have a conventional education in jewelry design. I was a humanities major at the University of Minnesota. With a liberal arts program that combined literature, art history and the sciences, the Humanities Department‘s goal was to produce well-rounded graduates in the Renaissance ideal. Most employers didn’t share this interest. So, I decided to pursue one of my extracurricular interests ---
fast cars.”

From metalworking on the colossal scale of race cars, Sawyer turned to metalworking on the most intimate scale. He began to design and create jewelry. He sold his race car to underwrite this new direction and has been a metalsmith ever since.

ABOUT THE WORK

“Thirty years ago, ancient Japanese swordworking techniques were unknown in the United States. It was then that I began to develop my own techniques to produce signature patterned metalwork.” Patterned metal remains a passion for Sawyer and has become his signature in the world of art jewelry.

“To generate the wood grain pattern, the desired combination of metals is laminated into a stack and forged with a hammer into a series of spirals and fold backs. The forged metal is then worked into a uniform rectangular billet so that it can be cut into slices.

“The billet is cut into slices like boards off a log. Each time a slice is cut, another pattern of wood grain is exposed. The pattern on each slice is slightly different. Except, that is, on adjacent slices.

“Adjacent slices have mirror image patterns and are used in making matched sets of engagement and wedding rings. Couples can choose rings that are made for them alone.”